Kelly Slater runs with his board after winning his heat in the fourth round of the Rip Curl Pro Search surf contest, thereby clinching his 11th Association of Surfing Profesionals season title, at Ocean Beach, Sunday, Nov. 6, 2011 in San Francisco. Slater was mistakenly awarded the ASP title on Wednesday when, the ASP said, it made a mistake in its tiebreakers. (AP Photo/George Nikitin)
Ran on: 11-23-2011
Kelly Slater clinched his 11th world title this month, but Maverick's is another world.
Ran on: 11-23-2011
Kelly Slater clinched his 11th world title this month, but Maverick's is another world.

Photo: George Nikitin, AP

Kelly Slater runs with his board after winning his heat in the...

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA - NOVEMBER 02: Kelly Slater competes in heat 6 of round three of the Rip Curl Pro Search on November 2, 2011 in San Francisco, California. Slater won his heat to win his 11th ASP Men's World Title. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Kelly Slater's eyes turned cold at the mention of Maverick's, as cold as the wintertime ocean and the history of tragedy at the big-wave spot off Half Moon Bay. Slater might own the professional surfing world, with a reputation to match athletes' in any sport, but he knows that the upcoming Maverick's contest is an entirely separate venture.

Interviewed after the Rip Curl Pro Search event at Ocean Beach, where he clinched his 11th world title during the early rounds, Slater said he's committed to surf the contest, with a window running Dec. 1 through the end of March, a month longer than last winter. He hasn't surfed Maverick's since 2000, when he finished second to Darryl "Flea" Virostko and felt lucky to escape the day in one piece.

"It's been a while," he said. "Should be exciting. The level of big-wave surfing has really been pushed since I last surfed there. Paddle-in surfing has gone through an incredible progression. There are so many guys who are really comfortable out at Maverick's, which is really ... frightening (laughter)."

Perhaps "comfortable" isn't quite the right word. Everyone who paddles out at Maverick's knows that iconic Hawaiian surfers Mark Foo and Sion Milosky died there, that big-wave legend Shane Dorian had the worst wipeout of his life, and that Orange County's Jacob Trette nearly drowned after a punishing wipeout in January. Slater was so shaken by his semifinal experience in 2000, he had decided against going back out for the final until a last-minute change of heart.

"It's just heavy out there, different from any other big-wave spot I've surfed," said Slater, who won the Eddie Aikau contest at Waimea Bay in 2002 and finished second two winters ago. "To surf it three times (heats) in a day is about as challenging as it gets." Honestly, Slater said, "The Aikau is the one I'm really looking forward to."

The Maverick's contest has lurched through some tumultuous years on the political front, replete with lawsuits, organizational turmoil and bitter relationships with sponsors. The contest had been renamed in honor of the late Jay Moriarity, only to be rebuffed by members of Moriarity's family after a series of setbacks (the contest didn't happen last winter because of a lack of adequate conditions).

Now called the Maverick's Invitational, the contest is run by a five-person board of directors, including longtime big-wave standout Ken Collins and Maverick's pioneer Jeff Clark, who has returned as contest director after years of conflict with prior organizers.

So far, there has been just one good day (Oct. 12) at Maverick's, featuring nearly all of the Northern California regulars and an unsettling twist: shark sightings that evening and again the following morning. It was the first time most of them had surfed Maverick's since Milosky died in the late afternoon of March 16, and nobody's keen to resume the big-wave season with high-profile competition.

As a result, the opening ceremony will be held in conjunction with the next good swell, whenever it might arrive. "That gives us the best chance of getting all the guys in town," Clark said, "and letting them get back into the rhythm of surfing Maverick's. They all know it's an experience you don't quite get anywhere else."

A few things to note:

-- Virostko, who won the first three Maverick's contests, has retired from competition. He had a much-publicized bout with methamphetamine abuse, entered a rehabilitation center with full commitment, and has been sober for three years. Always willing to drive a Jet Ski into roiling waters to rescue a fallen surfer, Flea will be in charge of the contest's water patrol.

-- The 24-man entry list has not changed from last winter (see full list) except for Virostko's place being taken by the No. 1 alternate, Santa Cruz veteran Josh Loya.

-- Dorian considered giving up big-wave surfing in February 2010, when he took a spill on a 50-foot Maverick's face, was held underwater for two waves and sensed he was on the verge of blackout - the permanent kind. It wasn't his first close call in monstrous surf, and he became intent on developing a state-of-the-art rescue vest. It appears he has succeeded.

Working in conjunction with Billabong's wetsuit specialists and Mustang Survival, a marine-safety company with connections to the U.S. military, Dorian came up with Billabong V1, featuring an instantly inflatable air bladder. The device is worn on the back, so as not to interfere with paddling, and it activates with a simple tug on a ripcord.

After testing his new vest in life-threatening conditions at Cortes Bank (the notorious shoal off the San Diego coast) and Jaws (Maui), Dorian said, "I went from nearly panicking to being totally relaxed. The thing just rocketed me to the surface. I don't think any wave can keep you down with this thing on your back."

Wary of his device falling into the wrong hands - incompetent surfers suddenly feeling invincible - Dorian said the Billabong V1 is not available to the public, only to the elite members of the big-wave surfing community. "I want them all to be safe out there," he said. "I want them to come home to their families every night."